It's practically a romance novel. Hugh Hefner marries Crystal Harris at the Playboy Mansion... I love the photographs, which make it seem like the Playboy Mansion has its own chapel. But I suspect Hugh Hefner is an atheist. Googling, I get here:

PLAYBOY: What do you believe happens after death?

HEFNER: I haven't a clue. I'm always struck by the people who think they do have a clue. It's perfectly clear to me that religion is a myth. It's something we have invented to explain the inexplicable. My religion and the spiritual side of my life come from a sense of connection to the humankind and nature on this planet and in the universe. I am in overwhelming awe of it all: It is so fantastic, so complex, so beyond comprehension. What does it all mean -- if it has any meaning at all? But how can it all exist if it doesn't have some kind of meaning? I think anyone who suggests that they have the answer is motivated by the need to invent answers, because we have no such answers.

Hef is 86, and Crystal is 26, but you never know who will go first. Hef appears to be in fine shape, and he's still cute, old man cute, not in denial of age. He seems smart and sane, and why wouldn't a woman find him attractive? Crystal on the other hand is bereft of the freshness of youth. She looks fake and drained of life, despite the big-lipped, plastered wedding-smile. What does he see in her?

My religion and the spiritual side of my life come from a sense of connection to the humankind and nature on this planet and in the universe. I am in overwhelming awe of it all: It is so fantastic, so complex, so beyond comprehension. What does it all mean -- if it has any meaning at all? But how can it all exist if it doesn't have some kind of meaning? I think anyone who suggests that they have the answer is motivated by the need to invent answers, because we have no such answers.

"Hef appears to be in fine shape, and he's still cute, old man cute, not in denial of age. He seems smart and sane, and why wouldn't a woman find him attractive? Crystal on the other hand is bereft of the freshness of youth."

Each to her own. Hef looks like the old geezer that he is. Ms. Crystal looks just like the buxom blondie that he was always featuring in the centerfold. You have to wonder what the prenup says -- might have required some revisions to get her to say yes where, in 2011, she was into no.

They just couldn't be more completely of the world. No wonder he can't contemplate anything spiritual.But, wouldn't you think there has to be more to it than looks? There are thousands of girls out there who look almost exactly like Crystal.

You know, I was just mulling over the Heffner thing and it occurs to me that only a child of the semi-Victorian, largely Protestant, rootless 50s Middle-West could have created Playboy.

And if you want to know what I mean by "rootless" Protestant midwesterners, go visit Louisville for a while, and then take the short drive across the JFK bridge into the three adjacent/merged towns of New Albany/Jeffersonville/Clarksville sitting just across the Ohio R. in Indiana and compare the sociocultural ethos.

(Although Louisville itself is not truly "Southern". As Bob Edwards of NPR fame once accurately described the city: "Louisville is neither especially 'southern' nor is it especially 'mid-western'--but especially 'neither.' ")

It is difficult to know what is going on in Ms. Harris' head, but surely she is aware that her marriage is limited by human biology. It is extremly unlikely that Mr. Hefner will live past 100. She will be barely into her 40's by then.

As for Hefmer, even after many marriages, he is still a romantic. He doesn't have to get married to get laid, yet he wants to be married. Which is to say, he may be shallow, but he could be more shallow.

Most men I know want that, and they also want the other side... the side that is so prevalent in the gay male world... sex for the sheer intoxicating, physical, randy sake of getting off, including outrageous shit just for the sake of doing outrageous shit.

Hef likes looking at sex. He made his fortune out of the visual, entertainment side of sex. You've made it quite clear that you don't find that very interesting.

Hefner married Northwestern University student Mildred Williams (born 1926) in 1949. They had two children, Christie Hefner (born 1952) and David (born 1955).[21] Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army. He called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life."

Some men never get over something like that, and their lives are defined by it.

FYI, to a man of a certain age, pre-perimenepausal women are considered "fresh" A 26-yo gal is likely still using slender-regulars, not the super-soakers required by a 40+yo cougar. Since Hef does not wear 13-EEE shoes, one might expect that the female vintage makes a difference to him.

And from the woman's side, here's what probably appeals to Ms. Harris about Hef, aside from the obvious benefits of money and notoriety, which are aphrodisiacs.

An old man who's been screwing all kinds of cute women his entire life is an old man with a lot of confidence... in particular a lot of confidence in his ability to keep it up. He's not going to blow his wad just because some young cutie shows him her tits. She's going to have to do one hell of a lot more than that.

Shouting Thomas said...I find it quite appalling, as well as entertaining, that you folks are searching so furiously for signs of pathology here.

The very Puritanism Hef spent his life undermining.

Victory to Hef!

Don't be foolish.There certainly is some level of emotional pathology going on here and Puritanism has nothing to do with it.

What an OLD man sees in a woman young enough to be his great-grand daughter is open for speculation. What she sees in him is most likely a daddy figure with the opportunity for a HUGE pay-off once he dies, which, if she does him correctly, will be sooner rather than later.

Social mores including such a vast discrepancy in ages has nothing to do with Puritanism and awful lot with both of them being in denial of death.

What an OLD man sees in a woman young enough to be his great-grand daughter is open for speculation. What she sees in him is most likely a daddy figure with the opportunity for a HUGE pay-off once he dies, which, if she does him correctly, will be sooner rather than later.

For the first part, I'd say Hef sees beauty and a lot of sexual energy. So, yes, it's Puritanism that's digging at you.

For the second part, Ms. Harris has made a smart deal that will make her very rich for the rest of her life. Why do you think that that would cause her to have animosity toward Hef and wish him to die? That's just nonsense. More likely to create sympathy and gratitude in a good woman.

Some of us have, ST, and some of us actually took notice of the cultural rot that's pretty much ruined the country. As I drive through inner-city ghettos and trailer parks, I see drugs, crime, and knocked-up girls who have no business having kids. 'Ol Hef had a big hand in that.

Trailer trash look at Hustler, not Playboy. Hef idealized the life of an uber successful man of intellect, business acumen and a taste for the finer things in life that responsible success can facilitate.

Hef inspired men to be earners and thinkers who know how to relax and enjoy life.

Sorry that does not meet your ideal cloistered in a monastery with the other high priests of moral rectumtude.

Your example of Hef's target audience was ridiculous. His target audience has always been the well heeled, financially secure men, not welfare queens. His audience is responsible, financially secure men who want to enjoy the good life that they can afford.

And where in his actions has he shown responsibility?

Hef has been very successful as a father. His daughter is (or was until recently) manager of his financial empire. He takes good care of the people around him.

Hef has supported and financed the careers of more great writers than I can mention, and he was instrumental in bringing black entertainers onto the national stage in the 60s.

Cultural rot, like the poor has always been with us. Your perception that "these days" are unique is just an example of your cultural myopia and historical ignorance.

I get a kick out of your "hurts" comment. Sounds like you are into S&M or some other sick and twisted mental defect exacerbated by a belief in mythical angry, vengeful gods. Be that as it may, nothing a twit like yourself could ever hurt anyone other that a lower echelon twit.

If it wasn't for the articles in Playboy, the magazine wouldn't have had any success.

The usual nonsense.

Hef very cleverly lured in the audience with tits and ass, and then presented some of the best interviews and short story writing of his generation in Playboy. Playboy interviews were required reading during the late 60s and early 70s.

" My religion and the spiritual side of my life come from a sense of connection to the humankind and nature on this planet and in the universe. I am in overwhelming awe of it all: It is so fantastic, so complex, so beyond comprehension."

He's talking about pussy, orgasms and knocking the bottom out of women.

Sounds like you are into S&M or some other sick and twisted mental defect exacerbated by a belief in mythical angry, vengeful gods.

Sounds like someone is projecting. You see, I don't believe in any mythical, angry, or vengeful gods. I'm not even relgious: I go to church once a year, Christmas Eve, because it's a tradition.

I am just capable of seeing the lay of the land. Do I think the porno industry is the only cause (or symptom) of our cultural rot? No. But it was (and is) a big part. When you loosen standards, the slippery slope applies, and where does it stop then?

But I guess as long as Howard can pound his pud without anyone judging him, I guess that's all that really matters. Glad to see your priorities are in order.

I am an older gentleman living in Woodstock New York who is trying to meet women on the internets. I know that worked for you so I would like to try it. Should I start a blog? Should I comment fifty times in a thread and post music videos of obscure Dominican salsa singers? Should I post long comments of big words that I don't understand or don't mean anything?

Currently I am flirting on-line with a woman who claims to be a retired nurse and former astronaut. I don't know what I should do? Sometimes I think I should set up a date and sometimes I think I would be better off if I stuck my pecker in a pencil sharpener.

Playboy DOES function as a marker of the times. Once upon a time it did not show pubic hair in any photos because of the era's standards. Now it doesn't show pubic hair in any photos because its all been shaved away, per this era's standards...

@Shouting Thomas - Unfair memoir. You had a guitar in your hands like I did. Present women with a man who has a guitar, uses it onstage and many of them lose all sense of responsibility, respectability and common sense. Sometimes all three together if you're lucky. And if you're the singer too? Square the results.

I have been having trouble meeting women lately because they object to the fact that I dress like a Mexican wrestler and that I am obsessed by Mitt Romney. How can I change up my look to meet the babes?

Hefner made it big, encouraged by the culture, commodifying women, which contributed to our current moral decay. If he didn't do it, someone else would have. It's part of our struggle with the concept of individual liberty.

Fellow Prairie Stater ST is more on tgt than most here will admit. Playboy was Always a "life-style" magazine (albeit centered around sex--but as sex is one of THE most basic emotional drivers, why not?) as much as anything else. One simply CANNOT, imho, separate the articles, cartoons, interviews, etc., from the sex. Playboy was the prototype for MAXIM et al today, i.e., heavy on men's cultural "toys" such as fast cars, etc., as well as the sex. One can get all the straight sex/porno one wants via the innertubes. People seriously underestimate Hef's vision and intentions as well as his abilities also..

And while it is true that one may argue (correctly) that Playboy was the crack in the societal dam that led to an eventually flooding of society with dysfunctional hedonistic cultural maladies of all sorts, it would be hard to prove that such was Hef's intention. And at any rate, it's tough to fight the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics--especially as applied to sociocultural norms. Entropy, greatly aided by modern scientific advances (think the "pill.") will out eventually, however unfortunate that is for the general welfare..

I dunno, ST. Jealousy is really a waste of time. Destructive, too. So I avoid it.

You're assuming all men want what you want, or what you think they want. More, you're assuming we'd trade places with Hef given half the chance.

The problem is, what seemingly worked for Hef is destructive when applied to large groups.

Blacks and now a good chunk of poor white males are living this 'dream', floating from sex to sex like so many dogs. It has proven deleterious for children, and made it possible for boys to never become men.

Jealousy ain't the feeling I would describe here. I find it all pretty sad. Despair, maybe.

I own two chickens and a donkey. One day last summer while tending my chickens and talking my neighbor, a bee stung my donkey in his behind. The donkey couldn't reach the bee either by kicking or biting.

I asked my neighbor if she'd hold my cock and pullet while I scratched my ass.

Me neither. The fact that she is so obviously not a "10" says something.

Hell, I'm almost 60 now and all I know about how women think is that there are at least a handful of questions that are best responded to by feigning hearing loss, or leaving the room to take out the garbage, chop wood, or whatever.

Our innate and most primitive sense of justice demands that libertines come to a bad end. I think John Holmes had the most satisfying death. He was impotent and died of AIDS. Now there's some poetic justice, served cold with a twist of lemon.....Hef's last days do not point to an edifying moral. Maybe he'll stroke out during a blow job, and we'll be able to take some comfort in that. However, as it stands now, the wages of sin have given him a comfortable living and I don't think anyone, anywhere in the history of humanity has had such an enviable old age......I would like to take a moment to pause and relect on Bob Guccione. It was that gentleman who made a fortune by introducing pubic hair to the American public. As I recall, he went banrupt and died an early death. Such an end does not disturb the equilibrium of the spinning wheels and let's us take comfort in the bargain we have struck with life and our libido.

Love to see how you reconcile your first comment at 12.00 and the one at 12:05.

I am with Pogo.

Playboy was probably the first - can't think of another offhand art least - introduction for American mainstream culture to the idea that hedonism was OK as long as the ladies looked like corn fed farmer's daughters.

Show me a culture or period in a culture's history that didn't tank wholly or at least badly after hedonism became acceptable. The idea that Playboy represented the smart, successful gents wanting to enjoy life...I give you Nero and Louis the XIV.

Before you tell me that I'm a dried up prune or puritanical luddite, I've been married over 3 decades to a woman that still excites and satisfies me. But we never considered it fucking a sport. And that's what Playboy and Hefner was all about.

"But we never considered it fucking a sport. And that's what Playboy and Hefner was all about." -- B

Not sure what that first sentence exactly means, so I can't really say I disagree with the second.

However, sex is fun. Beautiful girls are nice to look at (beautiful naked girls, even better). Hugh Hefner has never harmed anyone by publishing Playboy. You admit to having an exciting and satisfying sex life, so you must agree that sex is fun. I am willing to bet you don't mind looking at beautiful girls, and I am willing to further bet that the fewer clothes they wear, the less you mind looking.

But it's not fresh. That's my point. She lived in the mansion beginning 5 years ago. And if "fresh pussy" is what you want, why would you ever marry?

That's totally not the explanation

Ann...please....when you are an old man, you can lecture another old man on "fresh pussy." Please note that I did not say "new pussy," which would be the case had he not boinked her before. I am only 55, and a 26-year-old looks pretty goddamn fresh to me. Clearly the old boy is going for orifice tension and enthusiasm. If he wanted sparkling repartee, deep insight, and someone with a remote chance of understanding his cultural referents, he might go for...ahem...a hot 60-something law professor. As for marrying, perhaps after all these decades of debauchery, he is ready to settle down.

Not sure what that first sentence exactly means, so I can't really say I disagree with the second.

Poorly written and posted without preview. Try this:

"But we never considered our sex life as sport fucking. And that's what Playboy and Hefner was all about.

I am willing to bet you don't mind looking at beautiful girls, and I am willing to further bet that the fewer clothes they wear, the less you mind looking.

Of course. I'm human. And you can get that at the beach. But that is not what ST or Pogo were talking about nor was I

So, what exactly is your problem with Hugh Hefner?

With Hugh (or ST for that matter)...nothing. Not directly and personally anyway. Whatever floats their boats.

The problem I have is with the notion that ST was advancing that what Playboy, and Hugh by his direction, represented was harmless. That because Playboy was written for and targeted to the sensibilities of the urbane and sophisticated gentleman and his use of sex as a leisure time activity without commitment to anything beyond appetite. And anyone who did not see it that way was a prune etc.

Playboy and the philosophy and lifestyle that celebrated the idea that hedonism - all the toys and the admittedly crudely put 'sport fucking' - was the signature MARK of the urbane and sophisticated gentleman. That idea is anything but harmless.

As an example of where that took us you can look at what happened to women's status in society once they bought into that lifestyle concept from their end. Sport fucking as a right without personal, moral, or ethical consequence is now the signature mark of women's rights - (see Sandra Fluke and at least one female commenter here) - and our whole political landscape and our culture and society has changed for the worse.

While they may be relatively slow, both evolution and devolution of society and culture are incremental and are inexorable once the tipping point where there's no turning back is reached. A lot of societal factors and pressures came into play back then and while I'm not suggesting that all the blame can be put on Playboy and Hugh by any means they were at the leading edge.

B understands Hefner's Playboy Philosophy, it was about conspicuous consumption and guiltless sports fucking. Hefner's writing or speech make that clear through the 50s and early 60s. Much of the groundwork of the new left sexual revolution was laid in the 50s, way before the pill. Hefner always intended to beak down the judo-christian sexual morals, he said so.

Have to say when I read that Althouse thinks Hefner is “still cute, old man cute” that I had to scratch my head in disbelief. But then looking at this photo of Hefner and this one of Meade, I think I get it.

I just hope a lot of young people aren't misled about sex by the example of Heffner. While people in the entertainment and pornography industries do get their chances, if you wish to enjoy a truly debauched, utterly depraved sex life, radical politics is the way to go. Consider Gandhi. If you or I tried to give enemas to underage girls, we wouldn't get very far. But Gandhi, that little stud muffin, gets a hagiographic biopic. A lot of the women who are so disapproving of Heffner's sex life would probably relish an enema from Gandhi. They'd probably brag about what a cleansing and religious experience it was to all their friends....Or, if you want to get it on with a twelve year old, consider the example of Daniel Ortega. It's true that Woody and Roman Polanski got away with it, but they had to undergo a certain amount of scandal and emotional trauma. Daniel not only got away with it, he got elected president of his country....As a general rule, the more radical your politics, the more radical your sexual transgressions and the more complete your pardon. Ponder Mao, whose picture still hangs over Taiping Square and is still revered by millions. He had a sex life that guys like Heffner can only dream about. An endless number of teenage virgins were recruited to ease his old bones. I'm not into enemas or twelve year olds, but the whole concept of teen age virgins sounds like something worth pursuing. What was particularly louche about Mao was that he did not believe in bathing. Only the bourgeoise can afford soap and hot water. A man of the people doesn't bathe. So he got to have sex with all these teen age virgins and he didn't even have to shave. Eat your heart out Heffner....I would advise any young man interested in becoming a depraved degenerate to go into politics and not pornography.

Lydia, thanks! I must say though, I think there are many men, willingly stuck on ogling only young women, who are missing a valuable and special beauty that can only be found in women of age and maturity. Genuine self-confidence, seasoned complex humor, perspective that can only come from experience, PLUS the physical beauty of good health and a true femininity born of years lived fully awake and alive are all rarely available to younger women.

I say - find someone close to your own age if you can. I predict your relationship with her or him will be deeper and happier and much more fun than if you try to bridge a generation or two.

Meade is much better looking than Hef. Although I can see the resemblance Meade looks more like a man. Someone who's active and involved with life, not just focused on his own pleasure. It's the difference between being a net giver or a net taker. Hef may be a smart businessman, but his business is, put bluntly, the exploitation of other human beings for gain. This tends to make you look debauched.

Take it easy Shouting, I know your position. I'm just stating mine. And I know that makes me a judgmental dried up old hag, but even judgmental dried up old hags have legitimate points of view.

Well, I don't approve of what they want to do, but that doesn't preclude exploitation. It's sort of like what criminals say when they get caught by a sting operation, "You set me up." But, as you say, Hef's victims are willing and at least most of them are of age chronologically if not mentally. I suspect a well traveled musician and a Wyoming small town prude aren't going to agree about very much. But, you are interesting ... and generous.

1) No one under 45 gives a damn about Hefner. You can go on-line and get free porn videos. Its been available online for the last 15 years - or so people tell me.

2) Hef, along withe most Northern Europeans & Americans, doesn't do Hedonism very well. NE and Yanks always have to *justify* themselves. They just can't say "I like to eat, screw, and drink - that's what life is all about". Instead, they have to provide REASONS for their not believing in God and living like an animal. If you want to be a Pagan - be a Pagan - and shut the hell up.

3) People ridicule Old men having sex with young girls because it is unnatural. As Bob Wright would say, its evolution baby.

Contrary to rcocean's declaration, some people under 45 are at least interested in partying w/, er, Hefner:

The Harvard Lampoon made Hugh Hefner an honorary member last week [March 2002], in a party thrown at the Playboy Mansion. As part of the ceremony, Hefner received an award from the magazine naming him "The Best Life-Form in the History of the Universe," a conclusion supported by Jay Phelan, a UCLA professor of evolutionary biology, in a tongue-in cheek-speech. During the celebration, Hef was also presented with a Lampoon bathrobe, a paper crown and a large silver trophy.